Collaborating on Google Drive Google Drive offers a robust platform for collaboration, allowing teams to share files, edit documents in real-time, and manage permissions effectively. Alternatives to Google Drive Microsoft OneDrive Great if you use Microsoft Office / Windows — good integration, simple storage. Dropbox Reliable syncing, good for teamwork & sharing — widely supported on desktop/mobile. Box Reliable for business or professional use, especially with content management and secure sharing. Tools that work well for Google Drive collaboration Area LibreOffice (Good) Microsoft Office (Industry Leader) Word processing Writer Word Spreadsheets Calc Excel Presentations Impress PowerPoint Illustrations Draw Visio Database Base Access Writer / Word 1. Essay 2. Letter 3. Report 4. Book 5. Paper Calc / Excel 1. Budget 2. Inventory 3. Analysis 4. Chart 5. Schedule Impress / PowerPoint 1. Presentation 2. Slideshow 3. Pitch 4. Tutorial 5. Workshop Draw / Visio / Publisher 1. Diagram 2. Flowchart 3. Illustration 4. Poster 5. Mockup Created in LibreOffice Writer on Linux. Create and edit text and images in letters, reports, documents and Web pages by using Writer. By Mohan Tech blog: http://mohan.github.io/ Google Drive Desktop Sync 1. Sync : Keeps files on your computer and Google Drive automatically updated. 2. Offline & Integration : Access and edit files offline; works with Docs, Sheets, Slides. 3. Convenience : Simplifies file management, collaboration, and backup across devices. Install Google Drive for Desktop Scenarios 1. Two people collaborating on the same document Person A Creates a doc file with the name MyEssay.doc in a Google Drive Desktop sync folder Person A Shares the folder to Person B in Google Drive Desktop Sync Person B Accepts the invitation and see the shared folder in his Google Drive Desktop Sync Person A Add the contents of the essay to MyEssay.doc. Saves and closes the document. Person B Opens MyEssay.doc and makes his changes. Saves and closes the document Person A Opens MyEssay.doc and sees the updates from Person B. 2. Multiple people editing the same file at the same time • When you open a synced Word file in Microsoft Word Desktop, Word usually locks the file locally while it’s open. • This prevents two Word instances from overwriting each other at the same time. • If someone else has the same file open on another computer, Word may show a message like: The document is locked for editing by another user. Created in LibreOffice Writer on Linux. Create and edit text and images in letters, reports, documents and Web pages by using Writer. By Mohan Tech blog: http://mohan.github.io/ Differences LibreOffice vs Microsoft Office LibreOffice Microsoft Office Price Free Around $100 User Interface Standard Modern Desktop Office vs Google Docs Online Microsoft Office desktop is a better choice for serious document work because it offers far more advanced formatting, stronger offline reliability, & smoother handling of long or complex files than Google Docs, making it better for professional & academic writing. Desktop Office Google Docs Price Free and paid ✅ Free ✅ User Interface Desktop class ✅ Web Centric File/Offline Access Full ✅ Limited Google Drive Sync Yes ✅ Yes ✅ Native Editor Yes ✅ No Web Browser Editor No ✅ Yes ✅ Feels like a Desktop App Yes ✅ No Tips Style your document Styles are predefined sets of formatting (fonts, spacing, headings, lists, etc.). Instead of manually formatting everything, you apply a style — and you can change the style once to update the whole document. There are three ways: • Press F11 • OR click the Styles icon in the right sidebar • OR go to View → Styles This opens the Styles and Formatting panel. https://help.libreoffice.org/latest/en-US/text/shared/01/styles.html Created in LibreOffice Writer on Linux. Create and edit text and images in letters, reports, documents and Web pages by using Writer. By Mohan Tech blog: http://mohan.github.io/ Templates Templates in LibreOffice Writer are pre-designed documents that already contain styles, layout settings, and sometimes content, so you can start writing immediately without having to format everything each time. They’re the starting blueprint for new documents. A template can contain any of the following: • Styles (paragraph, character, page, list) • Preset fonts & sizes • Margins and page layout • Headers & footers • Page numbers • Table styles • Logos, placeholders, or boilerplate text • Cover pages • Formatting rules (e.g., double-spacing for academic papers) • Think of it as a ready-made structure you use repeatedly. You can create your own templates, by saving the writer file as .ott OR https://www.libreofficetemplates.net/category/new Drafting a post for a blog When writing a blog post on your favourite blogging medium, it is good to write the draft in LibreOffice Writer or Microsoft Office. Then copy and paste the contents of the finished post to your new blog post editor. Then publish the post. Created in LibreOffice Writer on Linux. Create and edit text and images in letters, reports, documents and Web pages by using Writer. By Mohan Tech blog: http://mohan.github.io/